Ancient characters at a glance
By Chung Ah-young
Some 500 ancient writings including a rubbed copy of the inscription on King Gwanggaeto’s Monument will be disclosed at a special exhibition titled “The Characters, Thereafter” at the National Museum of Korea from Oct. 5 to Nov. 27.
Not only well-known national treasures but also rare documents will offer a glimpse into the lives of early Koreans through their writings.
The largest exhibition ever held in the nation featuring the ancient characters will shed light on the acceptance and development of the letters through aspects of rules, lives and thoughts.
From people’s daily lives, the old documents show a food culture of stingrays, pork, venison, soy sauce and salted fish along with various grains such as barley and rice consumed at the royal court during the Silla period (57 B.C.-935 A.D.).
The materials reveal that those in the Baekje era (18 B.C.-660 A.D.) developed a new breed of red rice, which grows even in tough environments, to solve hunger at that time. They also used herbal remedies.
Some documents demonstrate the agonies of low-ranking officials who couldn’t attain a higher post because of poverty while others offer sincere prayers for the deceased or for rain to appease drought.
A 7th-century wooden tablet from the Baekje period shows a loan with high interest charged while a document from Silla times tells of the lives of farmers planting trees, plowing the fields and raising cows and horses. Some Silla documents were recycled as wrapping paper.
An array of stationery, which contributed to the development and process of acceptance of the characters, such as an ink stick excavated from the Seokga Pagoda and pieces of paper from the Anap Pond site in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, are on display.
The copy of the inscription on King Gwanggaeto’s Monument is not to be missed. It was created by putting paper over the monument’s inscriptions and pouring ink to let the letters smear and appear on the paper. The copy owned by the National Museum of Japanese History is the raw material which reveals international relations in East Asia during the 5th century. So far some 10 copies are known to the academics but the one exhibited is deemed to be in the best condition.
The exhibition consists of four parts along with an introduction, “From Pictures to Writing,” which explains the transition from the prehistoric period to the historic period through changes in people’s means of expression.
The first section is titled “The Acceptance of Writing and Methods of Communication before Writing.”
Under the theme “Writings and Rule,” the second part shows writings by the ruling class as reflected in stone monuments, wooden tablets, bronze swords and mirrors, and written documents that also tell the lives of farmers and officials.
The third, “Writings in Daily Life” shows various characteristics of the everyday lives of ancient Koreans such as food and medicine, housing and architecture, trade and distribution through writings found on ceramics, tiles, bricks, and wooden tablets.
The fourth part, “Thought, Religion and Writings” features thoughts and religious life of the past including Buddhism and native folk beliefs through such items as Buddhist images, bells, and Buddhist sutras.
The closing section is titled “The Korean Language and Script—the Invention of Idu.” It displays examples of “idu,” an archaic writing system that represents the Korean language using Chinese characters, through wooden tablets, stone monuments, and stone inscriptions. A separate zone features the writing from King Gwanggaeto’s Monument from the Goguryeo period (37 B.C.-668 A.D) and calligraphy examples by the Silla scholar Choe Chi-won.